The People Inside My Head Say They Want Pie
by iloveslinky
Summary: ON HIATUS: James and Cyn are at it again! Only, this time, James went too far! Cyn suffers from insanity while James laughs it up, but, unbeknownst to our favorite duo, a REAL terror is on the loose! Will James hear Cyn's desperate cry for help in time?
1. The Fight

**A/N:** Ok, today is my B-day and I HAD to put this up!!!! Read if you love me!!!

I don't own Jimmy Neutron. I didn't get him as a birthday present either. Crosses arms and scowls I don't own Where the Red Fern Grows either! My parents REALLY hate me this year!!!

* * *

"I told you, Vortex, there's no such thing as a plant that grows between two people that are in love! Who would stay in one place long enough for botany to grow anyway? It's stupid, like you!" James growled at the blonde inferno standing nose-to-nose, fighting with him.

"I'm not stupid! And I didn't say it existed! I said it was an extremely romantic idea!! And, for a Red Fern to grow, you have to be dead and buried next to the one you love!" Cyn fought back, emeralds ablaze. She held the Children's novel up to her face, a page book–marked by her index finger,

James gendered at the work of fiction. Where the Red Fern Grows smiled back at him from its colorful cover. "Wilson Rawls" was emblazoned in smaller print under the title, indicating the name of the author.

"There's no such thing as love! It's Just two people that have a mutual attraction for one another. And, if love really existed," he continued, "what are the chances of actually finding that one person you are specifically "made for"?" James continued, putting finger-quotes around the last two words. Cyn was taken aback, her defenses down, she gaped.

"You see? Even you don't know," James finished in a softer voice as he walked past Cyn and sat in his lab chair; a light blue seat upon a tire with a keyboard suspended in midair above the lap.

James couldn't believe Miss Fowl had paired him with _Cyn_! The bird had been in one of her rare "Torture James and Cyn" moods, like the day she had paired the dreadful duo together for the oceanography project. The truth was, as James learned later, that Oleander and Emily had broken up earlier that day. Naturally, Miss Fowl learned about it the moment it happened through the "Lindbergh Grapevine," but decided to disregard it. In a deceitful mood, Miss Fowl made an evil decision for both parties of James and Cyn as well as Oleander and Emily. James would, in both the cases of the current book report and the former oceanography project, rather have had Oleander as a partner, but didn't get his wish. In his current situation, however, Miss Fowl had _chosen_ partners for the book report on the famous Where the Red Fern Grows.

"You're right," Cyn said, defeated. James did a double take. He'd never heard Cyn audibly admit another's vanquish over herself.

"You're right; I don't know the probabilities of something like that. But, maybe if you just believed," Cyn let out a sigh. She looked pleadingly into James' hard, indigo orbs. "Maybe if you could close your eyes to the discernible and gaze upon the unseen. Maybe then you could see what the rest of the world in love sees." Cyn crossed her fingers, hoping for the best.

"There's no such thing as love and you know it. Get out of my lab. I can do the report myself; I don't need your help," James said levelly, his mouth forming a thin line and his brow set unbreakable above his scowl. Cyn's expression of compassion and pleading turned rapidly into one of anger and maliciousness.

"You're just angry because that bitch Betty Quinlan is going out with Nick Dean and not you!" And, with that, Cyn stormed out of the lab in a thunder of rage.

_Ugh! I can't believe her! She's gone overboard this time! This has nothing to do with Betty Quinlan!_ James' teeth rubbed together at the name. _I'm not jealous, honest. _

James rose solemnly from the chair and began to walk absentmindedly around the lab. His big brain at work thinking devious thoughts.

_Cyn will pay! She'll learn never to mess with a Neutron after I'm done with her! Ha! She won't cross my path in FEAR after I'm done with her! _James laughed aloud. It was a most evil laugh that chilled even the young genius to the bone.

_Note to self; __don't__ do that again._

* * *

"Vox, does an internet check on reasons for insanity. I think Miss Vortex should have a legitimate reason for lunacy to tell her therapist. It's only fair," James said, cruel smile still placid on his face.

"Information found, James," said the disembodied voice.

"Thank you, Vox. Now, find the most effective form of insanity."

"The most effective form of insanity would be Paranoid Schizophrenia," Vox cleared.

"Hearing voices, eh? Kinky. So kinky that it just might work," James said as he made his way over to the design table.

The malevolent sounds of hammers, wrenches, chemical explosions, and scratching of pencils onto paper filled the lab for the next three hours. At long last James stretched his eleven year old body by reaching his hands into the air and, from there, bending down to touch his toes. The metal clink of Goddard alerted James of the mechanical dog's approach.

"Hey boy," James said as he pet Goddard's metal-plated head.

"Bark, bark," sang Goddard in his metallic voice.

"I've just finished my latest invention! It works by causing friction due to radiation. The friction causes every brain cell in your mind to begin talking. I took the Electrolife's design and the blue-prints from the Neutron Esephylo Synthesizer and fused them together. Instead of making music audible to another's ear, however, the Neutron Psychosis Inducer makes the sound come from within." Goddard whined.

"Basically, it makes you hear voices. The amount of voices varies depending on one's mood. For example, if you were extremely angry it would be as though you were walking through a crowd of 15,000 people, each trying to tell you something different. Yet, if you are calm and serene you would only hear one to two voices at a time," James finished proudly. Again, Goddard whined.

"Aw, boy," James said sympathetically, "I'll only use it on Cyn for a few days. After that I'll remove her from herself, which is punishment enough, and she'll be back to normal again. I promise, nothing will go wrong."

The statement echoed in Goddard's ears:

_Nothing will go wrong…_

_Nothing will go wrong…_

_Nothing will go wrong…_

GTV arose out of Goddard's chest with a message. A message to no one in particular.

_I have a bad feeling about this…_

* * *

**A/N:** Review if you 3 me!... Or if you like the story...

iloveslinky


	2. The Voices

**A/N:** Some of you may have been wondering why I changed the names around a little bit. In all honesty, I changed the names because I wrote this outline in my English class one morning. Thinking I would be made fun of for watching a cartoon, (LIKE SHEEN!) I changed the names in hope of disguise. Anywhos, I liked the names so much that, when I began to actually type it out, that I kept them the same!

You know the drill. I don't own James and all that.

* * *

Creating the device had been easy. Inflicting its rays upon Cyn was another story. James tried to devise a plan as to how he should exact his device, but nothing came. After a while, James gave up and called his trusty K-9, Goddard, to help.

"Goddard, options, please," James commanded tiredly. It was nearly midnight.

_Ask Cyn on a date. Wait until you have her alone, __and then__ zap her. _

"Nah, too out-of-character for this authoress. Next."

_Get Sheen to do it._

"I don't think so. Sheen would be the type of person that would zap himself by sheer stupidity. Next."

_Just zap her. Hope for the best. _James sighed.

"I guess that's what I'll be forced to do, boy. I just hope it works," James yawned, "I'm exhausted, Goddard. I'm going to bed. G'night." And James left the lab on fatigued feet.

* * *

The next morning before school, James was sitting on the front steps that led into the place of learning, tinkering with the Neutron Psychosis Inducer.

"Hey, James. Whatcha doin'?" sheen asked as he approached his preoccupied friend.

"Nothing too important," James replied without removing his eyes from the remote-like device in his lap. James tightened a screw in boredom. For some reason he didn't quite want to tell Sheen about his invention.

"Hey, what's that in your hands?! It looks like the remote for my TV! Or maybe the Telepathic Reader from Ultra Lord Episode 6,006-Attack of the Furious High Schooled Cheerleaders! When Ultra Lord threw that green ray-type thing and it hit the captain of the squad and she broke out in pimples and had a heart attack I thought _I_ would be the one having the heart attack!" Sheen rambled on and James ignored. It wasn't until Liberty and Cyn arrived that sheen stopped.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Nerdtron and his side-kick, Wafflehead," Cyn said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Hey! Haven't you ever heard that song by Canadian Hi-Fi, _The Nerds Get the Girls_? Hmm? I'll have Betty Quinlan by my side in no time using this big brain of mine," James retorted.

"YEAH! AND WAFFLES ARE AWESOME!" Sheen screamed, earning him the creeped-out looks of a few nearby people.

"Wasn't it you who, just yesterday, said that love didn't exist?" Cyn fought back.

"If I don't believe it exists that doesn't mean I can't exploit other people's gullibility," James said, "Speaking of which, can I see you in that secluded spot over there by that tree where no one would be able to hear and/or see us?"

A look of confusion crossed Cyn's face.

"Uh, ok?" she stammered. A tiny smile erupted in Liberty's mouth as James led the two over to the indicated spot.

"I was wonderin' when those two would get together," Liberty said to Sheen.

"Yeah, their constant fighting was tearing us all apart. I just wish they'd get a room," Sheen commented back.

With Cyn and James things were going differently, however.

"What do you want Dorktron?" asked Cyn. James stopped her in the middle of a secluded area. Encased in shrubbery and a tall oak, James began to speak.

"I just wanted to ask what you thought about my-" James pulled the Psychosis Inducer out from behind his back where it had been sheltered from Cyn's view and, quick as a flash, pressed a giant blue button in the middle of its anatomy. Orange light shot out and surrounded Cyn's body, licking her with its rays. A seconds exposing to the Psychosis Inducer was all James needed. He released the blue button and the light dimmed out.

"About your what, James? We can't stand here all day. School starts in thirty seconds!" Cyn spat. A flicker of hope burned inside James. Cyn hadn't noticed what James had done!

"A-about my pants!" James thought quickly. "They're a size taller. I wanted to know if anyone could tell." James turned his back on Cyn and twisted around. He inspected his behind and then Cyn's face, which held a priceless expression.

"I'm going to class. I'll visit you at the mental institution later," Cyn said as she made her way from the enclosing. James followed behind and almost ran into Carl upon resurfacing from the bushes.

"Oh, hey, Carl. What's up?"

"Nothing much, let's get to class," said Carl.

The two ambled into the school, then their classroom and took their seats next to each other just as Ms. Fowl was welcoming the class for the morning.

"I ho-o-ope you're all ready for the pop quiz I've for you," she squawked with a giant stack of papers in her arm.

A collective groan emanated from the students before the bird as she began to pass out the quiz.

James, as usual, began immediately and finished before Ms. Fowl could return to her desk at the front of the class. Upon turning his paper in, James pulled out some schematics and began working. Every once in a while, he would glance at Cyn and wonder when, or if, the Psychosis Inducer was going to kick in. He got his answer not too much later.

The class was dead silent as they scratched out their answers. A small bead of sweat embraced Cyn's eyebrow. A voice was ringing noisily in her ear. Every moment the voice was talking, Cyn was building up steam.

_The answer is four, _said the voice.

_No it's not! This is an __English __test;__ the answer is b; war-like or inclined to fight. Vocab, remember? _Rang another.

_Cyn, you are so stupid as to listen to them, _said one that sounded surprisingly like a certain boy genius, _it's__ me who you should be listening to. Precarious does not mean war-like or inclined to fight. You idiot!_

"NEUTRON! WOULD YOU PLEASE BE QUIET?!" Cyn blew up at the genius. Dead silence was noisier than what had been in that classroom before Cyn let out.

_Finally!_

"Miss Vortex, bra-a-awk, would you please refrain from yelling during a quiz? Especially when it's over nothing," Ms. Fowl requested.

"b-but Ms. Fowl, did you not hear James talking without rest?" Cyn inquired, completely and utterly confused.

"I'm afraid I didn't. Cyn, are you feeling all right? Would you like to see the nur-"

"NO!" that was the last thing Cyn needed. She put her name on her completed test and turned it in to Ms. Fowl.

"May I be excused? I need some fresh air," Cyn asked.

"Of course, you could really use it!" Cyn grabbed the hall pass outstretched to her by Ms. Fowl and made her way to the door. She stopped off at James' desk.

"I know you did something, and when I figure out what it was, I'm gonna kick your butt," Cyn threatened and left the class in a huff.

"That was o-o-odd!" said Ms. Fowl with a stricken look on her face.

"What are you talking about?! That was so cool!" Sheen burst. The class forgot about the test and buzzed about the recent occurring in class.

Meanwhile Cyn was taking laps around the school. The voices still ringing in her head. It sounded as though a million people were talking at once yet no one was around but Cyn. She looked at the nearby loudspeaker to find the sound, but there was no real indication that it wasn't on. But if it was, why would there be just a hundred-and-one noises at once?

_Gotta get somewhere quiet,_ Cyn barely heard herself think as she passed the lunchroom doors for, what seemed, the millionth time.

_I've got to get home_. Cyn ran to the doorway in which she had entered a little less than half-an-hour ago, and began to run with the pass still clutched in hand.

* * *

**A/N:** Ok, yes, _The Nerds Get The Girls _is a tiny spoof on the song _The Geeks Get The Girls_ by American Hi-Fi. That is one of my all time favorite songs! If you haven't heard it, you need to! Review please!

iloveslinky


	3. The Unforgiving

**A/N: **Ok, here we go! Oh, and I'll have the Epilogue for "The Voice Within" up soon! But read this first!

I don't own James or Cyn. But my daddy does own a teal Volvo!

* * *

In the natural world, without boy geniuses, snotty, blonde, girl geniuses, or Ultra Lord, the normal sit and ponder. In this time one recollects what has happened recently, in the past, or, even, asks about the future and its unclarity. A person has an inner voice called a conscience. This conscience is known to give advice during struggles, support during a time when things look bad, and even the occasional alarm for when something you are cooking is burning. Sometimes this 'spidey-sense' is called intuition.

Cynthia Aurora Vortex, being of sound mind, had this conscience and intuition. Being of unsound mind was similar to being of sound. Only there were many more consciences. Cyn found that they were like long lost friends. She now sympathized with Sheen, who often spoke to action figures, rocks, and hand-puppets.

But, along with long lost friends, came the worst in a person. The voice dripping with wickedness. The voice of the thing, person, place, or idea that you most apprehend. That which makes you cry out in the night like an infant.

For some people, it might be a certain sound, like nails on a chalkboard. For others it may be an idea, like the fear of commitment or the thought of failing a class in school. For many it's a physical thing, for example, fire or germs.

In this particular case, the thing Cynthia Aurora Vortex was most afraid of was him. She masked her terror with cruelty and malign. Dirty looks and evil grins. Malice.

It had been a week since Cyn had been zapped and she hadn't shown to school for half of that time. Cyn would exit her house and hide in the bushes until the birds left the nest for work, an hour and a half; every moment of that solitude swarmed with voices. Some soothing, more grating.

"You know, you should be at school now," said one voice, kind and feminine, like that of a mother. Perhaps she was Cyn's mother's voice as portrayed through Cyn. Perhaps it was Cyn's own maternal instinct.

"Shut up, you're not my mother," Cyn mumbled back. She'd been outside for an hour and twenty minutes; her parents would leave soon.

"No she's not, but you'd better get out of here," rasped a male voice, "there are bugs." At the tensing of Cyn's muscles, the voice went on, "What? You aren't _afraid _of the little devils, are ya?"

"Shut up," Cyn choked out. She crouched lower in the thick brush as her mother, dressed in a smart, black, business suit, exited the two-story and made her way to the black SUV waiting in the driveway. A short while later Mr. Vortex exited the house as well, this time from the garage, backing out in his teal Volvo. The wind rustled his thinning hair and he added designer sunglasses to finish his look. Mr. Vortex pulled out of the driveway and down the street, unknowing that eyes were watching, waiting for his departure.

"He's such a loser," said the evil voice. (A/N: For some reason I think of Evil Jimmy's voice here.) Cyn's eyes followed her forty-something year old dad to the stop sign at the end of the street where he stopped, signaled, and turned the corner.

"Finally," Cyn breathed. She crept from the bush into the house, still feeling the tiny feet from millions or bugs crawl across her skin. Cyn shook like a dog to rid her skin of the feeling, even though it only existed in her mind, and stalked on into the house.

Cyn made her way through the foyer, up the stairs, across the hall, and into the last room on the left; her bedroom. She laid herself out on the bed and listened to the sweet sound of nothing.

Until, "Your room is filthy."

Cyn, shocked beyond mortal comprehension, sat straight up in bed. By this time she was partially used to the preexisting voices in her head, but this one was different; this one was James'.

"Who said that?!" She screamed, wide-eyed as she jumped from her seat on the bed.

"Over here," said James' voice from behind Cyn. She turned to the left in a torrent of blonde and green.

"Other side," James taunted, this time on Cyn's right. She closed her eyes and wished away the voice.

"I hear you," echoed James from all around.

"Please," Cyn pleaded, "just go away. James, I don't want to hear you."

"Too bad," the voice said, this time seemingly from within the room. Cyn scanned her surroundings in search of the source of the noise. She noted the fifth grade class picture on the wall; the one with only James' hair and eyes revealed. Cyn inched towards the picture unblinking.

"James?" Cyn whispered so quietly that she could barely make it out herself.

"Other side," James' voice rang. Cyn turned to her other class pictures. Third and fourth blazed on the wall next to their successor. Both had the big head.

A bead of sweat balled on Cyn's forehead as she scanned the other photos.

"Go away."

"No."

Cyn didn't know what she was doing. Something inside of her had clicked. She grabbed her half of the Retroville Trophy of Honor and began stabbing at the photos with the lightning bolt held by the overly buff man.

"STOP IT! STOP TALKING TO ME! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOU! GO AWAY!"

Cyn thrashed through her room with fury riddled in her blows. Outta Sync posters lay crumbled and torn on the floor. Cyn's once prideful pink wallpaper hung for dear life on the walls. The comforter on the bed had large chunks of fluff on it from its own belly and that of the ragged pillows. Her clothes sat in mounds in her closet where she had torn them from their perches. Bookshelves once filled to the brim with her favorite novels, now lay over turned on the floor with the books trapped beneath them. The books themselves displayed shredded pages and covers. Cyn's photo albums were in disarray as the photos had been ripped out. Chairs were overturned and the bathroom mirror was shattered, in pieces on the floor.

Unbeknownst to Cyn, a car arrived in the driveway. An SUV to be exact. A middle aged woman in a smart business suit stepped out, a cellular phone plastered to her ear. She talked in hushed tones.

"Yes, it's on my desk at my house. I'm getting it right now. I'll be back at the office in twenty minutes. Goodbye," she said and then closed the flip phone.

Cyn opened her diary. Plenty of words in it had been splayed out on James. Some complementary, some not. She noted his name on one page and began to pull on each side of the paper in opposing ways.

"That's not going to stop me from coming."

"NOOOOO!" Cyn's voice reverberated off the walls.

A scream blasted as the woman opened the door to her suburban home. Terror streaked across her face as she ran upstairs.

"Stop it!"

The feet lifted one after another…

"I'm begging you…"

They reached the landing.

"Please…"

The doorknob twisted by the woman's fingers.

Cyn looked at the door with horror-filled, red-rimmed eyes. She had been crying.

Her mother walked in astonished.

"Why aren't you in school and what did you do to your room?"

"Get away!" Cyn whispered defensively. She curled tighter in her preexisting fetal position.

"Sweetheart, what are you doing here?"

"Go! Leave me alone!" Cyn's voice was raspy and shaking from fright.

"You tell her," James' said.

"SHUT UP!"

"Honey, I didn't say anything."

"Who does she think she is?"

"BE QUIET! GO AWAY! AND, FOR THE LAST TIME, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Cyn…?"

"Well, if that was the last time you're gonna ask me to leave, then I'm mighty glad; that was getting annoying."

"Go, please," Cyn whispered.

"I'll leave you alone. They're expecting me back at the office anyway," Sasha Vortex slinked out the door closing it softly behind her.

Cyn dropped her head in her knees and held it with her arms.

"Go…"

* * *

**A/N:** Yay! Cyn's lost it! Woo hoo!!!! Review if you love me, the story, or KITTENS!!!!

iloveslinky

P. S. Every time you don't review a kitten dies. HOW HORRIBLE!!!


	4. The Chat With James

**A/N:** Be thankful for my Thanksgiving Day FanFiction Blowout!

By the way, I'm sorry if the sunset seems a little early for people in Texas. I wouldn't know what time the sun sets there in February (Or, rather, mid-winter) because I've never been there. I'm in California on Daylight Savings time and… yeah…

I don't own James, yadda, yadda, yadda. You know the drill, good luck. By the way, I don't own Timmy either. Or SpongeBob, or chicken, or food, or the earth, or the universe, or… anything… I know, I suck.

* * *

"Bryce, I don't like the way she's been acting the past few days. She's driving me insane and God-only-knows what she's doing to her bedroom!" Mrs. Vortex said sternly to her husband. 

"I don't like it just as much as you do, Sasha, but we're just going to have to wait this one out. I predict that it's only a phase; she'll be over it in a week or so. As a matter of fact, I went through a phase similar to this when I was her age. I thought that I was an interdimensional, buck-toothed, fairy floating, pink-hatted boy from a place called Dimmsdale, but I got over it after I fell in a mud pit," Mr. Vortex finished.

"How is that similar to what our daughter is going through?!" Sasha asked angrily.

"I don't know, but the point is that she'll get over it in a few weeks."

"Maybe we should call in reinforcements," Sasha said as she picked up the phone and dialed.

* * *

The phone rang twice before anyone at the Folfax residence could answer it. 

"I've got it, Momma!" Liberty yelled. She picked up the phone and held it to her hear with her shoulder while her hands flipped the channel on the TV.

"Hello?"

"Liberty, darling, is that you?"

"Mrs. Vortex? How is Cyn? I haven't seen her at school in a few days. Is everything all right?" Liberty asked as she abandoned her search on the television and turned it off.

"That's the entire reason I called you, she won't talk to either me or her father without any repercussions. We were wondering if-"

"I could come over and talk to her? I'll be over as soon as possible."

* * *

Ten minutes later, after Liberty dressed in some street clothes and walked the two blocks to Cyn's house, she stood on the Vortex front lawn. Glass littered it and, with question, Liberty looked up at the window above it and noted it was broken in holes as though baseballs had been thrown through it. 

Liberty rang the doorbell and was almost immediately answered by Mrs. Vortex.

"Ok, you know the way to her room, be careful; she's very touchy," she warned the eleven-year-old African American.

"Yes, Mrs. Vortex, I'll try as best I can." Liberty said and then made her way to Cyn's room.

Once outside her door, Liberty stopped and took a deep, relaxing breath.

_Ok, Folfax, You've talked to Cyn ten million times, now shouldn't be any different_. But why did she feel so nervous? Intuition perhaps?

She gently rapped on the door and heard a fierce grunt from within.

"Cyn? Open up, girlfriend, it's me, Liberty," she cooed.

"Yeah, yeah," said the gruff voice from within. Liberty took that as a "Come in" and opened the door gently.

She looked around at the wreck of a room. CDs and their cases lay strewn across the floor; many broken in half. Their undersides reflected the sun's light onto the, now only drywall and paint in places, walls. In some places the walls were punched through and holes danced around the room.

The curtains on the windows were scraps, wafting in the breeze coming in the holes in the window Liberty had noticed earlier.

Liberty furrowed her brow in pity. _Poor girl_, she thought. _It'll hurt her even more to learn that her parents think she's crazy, but then again, maybe she is._

"Girl, what's been troubling you?" Liberty asked with supreme worry in her voice.

"Nothing, just go away," Cyn replied. She had her back to Liberty and was looking at the house across the street.

She couldn't tell Liberty about the voices, then she'd think that Cyn was crazy just like her parents did. Sure, they hadn't said that to her, but the way they were treating her told her all she wanted to know. Possibly more.

"I know somethin's ailin' you! I've been your best friend since the first grade; you know you can tell me without anything bad happening. I won't tell and you know that," Liberty said. Cyn didn't break her gaze from the house across the street.

When Cyn didn't respond, Liberty went on, "Is it Nicholas? Do you miss him? You only broke up with him a few weeks ago. Is that it? Am I getting close? Is it James?" Cyn's muscles stiffened. Liberty saw this and knew she had struck a nerve.

"Oh, I see; you went out with Nicholas to get James jealous and now you're mad because it didn't work," Liberty said with triumph, "But that's no reason to destroy everything you own and not come to school. I'm sure James-" Liberty was cut off.

"I said, GO AWAY!" Cyn yelled launching herself at the empty chair Liberty had occupied until she jumped up and ran screaming from the room.

Liberty ran down the stairs and into the living room where Mr. and Mrs. Vortex sat wringing their hands.

"How'd it go?" Mrs. Vortex asked upon seeing Liberty.

"You didn't hear that?" she inquired; she thought the whole neighborhood would have heard.

"Hear what?"

"Cyn yelled at me. She's never yelled at me before. _Never_," Liberty said. "Something is seriously wrong."

Mrs. Vortex sighed angrily, "I won't take this another minute. Bryce, go up there and talk to your daughter!"

The middle aged man looked up from his hands and gazed fearfully at his wife. Internal conflict raged as he tried to figure out whom he was more afraid of; his daughter or his wife.

"No," he answered. Mrs. Vortex buried her head in one of her hands.

"Liberty, you can go home now. Mr. Vortex and I will solve this problem soon enough," she said in as kind a tone as she could muster.

"Yes, Mrs. Vortex, Goodbye," Liberty inched her way towards the door, "Goodbye, Mr. Vortex. Call me if you need my help again."

Mr. Vortex just nodded a goodbye.

"We will, honey. We will," he replied.

* * *

Cyn sat in her room and watched as Liberty crossed the Vortex front lawn and made her way to James' house. 

"You shouldn't have snapped at her, ya know," said James' voice.

"I know. She was only trying to help."

It was weird. Lately all the voices inside Cyn's head had disappeared. Only James's remained.

"I wonder what she's doing going over to Neutron's house for."

"I wouldn't know."

Cyn looked around her room.

"Who said that?"

A leaf crumbled outside her window. Someone was on the roof. Someone was on the roof and someone was watching Cyn.

She froze. Cyn noted the sun setting in the western sky just over James' house. Night would be coming soon. She looked at the digital clock lying on the floor next to her overturned nightstand and found her suspicions to be correct.

_It's almost night. Jeez, five o'clock seems to come faster and faster every day._

"It's not like it matters though. You're not going anywhere."

_True enough, but someone might want to come here in the cloak of night._

* * *

"James!" Liberty pounded on the door of the lab. "James, let me in!" 

"Identity rejected," rang Vox' metallic voice. A metal hand sprung out of the DNA analyzer just as a trash can popped up from seemingly nowhere. The hand grabbed Liberty by the ankle and pulled her high into the air.

Upside down and angry, Liberty yelled, "Neutron!!!"

The hand only kept to its duties and dumped Liberty head-first into the trash receptacle.

"Liberty, Liberty, I am so sorry! I thought I deprogrammed that part of Vox. I guess not, I swear, it'll never happen again," said James after he pulled open the door to the lab just in time to see Liberty tossed like a rag doll.

James took the lid off the bin and helped Liberty out. She fumed for a little bit and James just let her be until she calmed.

Sighing, Liberty said, "James, something's wrong with Cyn and I think you might be the only one who'd be able to help her back to health."

"You don't waste any time getting to the point, do you?" James asked rhetorically, "Would you like to come into the lab?"

Liberty didn't answer; she just followed the genius into the clubhouse and down the entrance tube.

After arriving at the bottom James turned to Liberty, "what's wrong with Cyn? I mean, she walked out on class after yelling at me for no apparent reason and she hasn't been to school in three days and she's breaking holes in her windows. What else is new?" James laughed hesitantly.

Liberty looked at him with her eyes squinted.

"You did something to her, didn't you?" she said pointing a finger.

"Me? Pfft, I didn't do anything! That would be silly! Why would _I_ do anything to Cyn? That's ridiculous," James said.

Liberty only frowned in disapproval, "I'm onto you. Now, what can you do for Cyn?"

"Nothing's wrong with her, I swear."

"You'd better quit swearin' in a lady's presence. And there is something wrong, she yelled at me."

James blanched.

"She _what_?"

"She yelled at me."

"Holy Heisenberg, there _is _something wrong! Don't worry, Liberty. I'll have Cyn cured in a few days," James assured.'

Liberty only smiled, "Thank you! If I wasn't already suspicious that you did this to her, I'd hug you. And if Sheen wasn't so protective."

James smiled, "no problem. I like to keep my friends healthy. And even if you did hug me I wouldn't tell Sheen."

"I'll see you at school then, James."

"Bye Liberty!"

"Bye," she said as she was forcibly sucked up the vacuum tube and out of the lab.

James immediately wiped the fake smile off his face.

"Goddard, I gotta reverse the Psychosis Inducer and put Cyn back to normal."

Goddard whimpered.

"I know, I know. 'Nothing will go wrong.' Quit rubbing it in my face."

* * *

A day later, James stood on the lawn of the Vortex residence. 

_Here goes nothing,_ he thought.

"Cyn!" he yelled up, cupping his hand next to his mouth for amplification.

Cyn heard a yell. It sounded like Neutron.

_Why are you yelling, I can hear you perfectly fine!_

"I'm not yelling," said the James from within.

_Of course you are. Nerdtron, don't play tricks on me!_

"Look, I'm not yelling!"

"Cyn!"

Cyn made her way over to the open window and looked down onto the lawn. James stood there with a defeated look and something in his hand.

"Neutron, what do you want?!" Cyn screamed, surely the whole neighborhood would have heard.

"I know how to stop the voices!"

Cyn's heart stopped. How did he know about the voices? And how would he make them go away?

"Cyn, please. All I need to do is hit you with this-"

"_Hit_ me?! No thank you, Neutron! I'm just fine! And, I'll have you know, there _are_ _no_ voices in my head!" Cyn paused. "Other than my own, of course."

James sighed. _Ugh, this is pointless! Quick, what would Albert Einstein do?_

James simply pointed the Psychosis Inducer at Cyn and pressed the blue button once again and orange light exploded from the antennae once again. Once the light died away, James returned to his house feeling much like a burglar rather than a helper to the health of the youngest Vortex.

Inside her room, Cyn stumbled onto the floor. A few moments later she opened her eyes, but something was different; there were no longer any voices within her head bothering her. All was quiet until;

THUMP!

* * *

**A/N:** Yay, another chapter down! Woo hoo! Don't forget to be thankful (AND REVIEW!) "D 

iloveslinky


	5. The Squirrel

**A/N: **Yay! Finale! Another chappie! Well, hopefully, you know about the "Most Reviews" competition. For those of you that don't, I have three stories going right now, and the one with the most reviews gets updated first. I will not update one story twice without updating another. You are simply determining what order I update them in. I will attempt to update all three within the confines of a week, but I can't make any promises.

I don't own James. The fourth season and all… I WILL ONE DAY THOUGH!!! MARK MY WORDS!!! Also, the excerpt from Where the Red Fern Grows is not mine. It belongs to Wilson Rawls and it, for those interested, is found on page 246 in the paperbacked edition of the great, American novel.

* * *

Nicholas Dean stood in the backyard of Cyn Vortex dressed in a jet black trench coat and deep Fedora pulled down to his eyes. The collar of the jacket was pulled up high as to cover Nicholas' identity. All a person could see without looking too hard was a pair of eyes, a nose, and the shins and feet of the pre-teened boy.

Nicholas hurried to the side of the Vortex residence as he heard yelling from the other side of the house.

"There are no voices in my head, other than my own of course," he heard faintly.

Nicholas stumbled slightly in the bushes as he ran to the corner of the house and leaned his head out slowly from behind it. He saw James Neutron with a remote in his hand. His thumb pressed a button and orange light blinded the skater behind the wall. Nicholas leaned back from behind the wall and shielded his eyes. An orange streak was burned into his retinas.

_I hate it when this happens, _Nicholas thought as he blinked multiple times trying to demolish the orange vein. He kept his eyes open when he heard a thump and rapid footsteps leading away from the house.

_What did that monster do to my Cyn?! _Nicholas inwardly raged as he crawled towards the front of the house in the passageway created by the bushes on his left and dwelling on his right. Nicholas reached the lattice that crawled up the side of the abode. His fingers grabbed on and twisted around the white wood and ivy laced within it. He pulled himself slowly up, completely inapprehensive due to almost set sun. A few grunts and groans passed and Nicholas was on the roof above Cyn's bedroom. He crawled his way over to her window on his hands and knees and peered in.

Cyn, Nicholas' ex-girlfriend, lay on the floor silently with her great green eyes closed. They slowly began to open and Nicholas froze. His heart beat what seemed a million miles per hour as he scrambled to his feet and hid on the top of the roof; his feet making a particularly loud noise.

* * *

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Noises scurried up on the housetop above Cyn's head.

Cyn's breath released from her lungs in rigid waves, scared to death, she did the first thing she could think of; Cyn ran over to her bed and hid under the covers.

_You coward! _Her mind chided, _you're losing it again! Why are you hiding under the covers? You fool, dolt, chicken, COWARD! __There's__ nothing out there, go look for yourself._

Cyn pulled the comforter slowly from her head and let it pool around her shoulders. With child-like eyes, she looked over to the window.

The curtains fluttered in the breeze as Cyn inched her way over. She raked in a few unsteady, but deep, breaths and opened the window. Hardly any turns of the head and Cyn had surveyed her surroundings.

_Go out __there;__ you know that if you don't __then __you __won't__ have your fears satisfied._

Cyn gulped. She knew the voice was right so she stepped out of her window onto the ledge just outside. Cold air nipped at her bare arms and legs as Cyn crawled around on her goose bump enveloped hands and feet. The light from her bedroom window lit just around the mouth of the hole. It was still grey in places due to the nearly set sun and Cyn could see.

_See, nothing to worry about _Cyn's inner monologue reminded her. The internal curiosity within her drove her towards the edge of the roof where the rain gutter sat engulfed in dry leaves. There in the midst of the disarray was a lone footprint.

_Or maybe not._

* * *

Cyn suffered through a fitful night of sleep and woke with red-rimmed eyes the following morning. Her fears were, temporarily quenched because the sun was up and she doubted that her stalker would return in full view of the cul-de-sac. Even so, Cyn didn't waste time in securing a safe night's rest for herself the next evening.

Cyn's first order of business was to tell someone. Her mind was still basically unattached to her common sense and good reasoning, so, on crutches, her mind decided to pass the decision off unto someone else.

Cyn remembered an old flyer that the schools used to give out every year when the bullying segment of their classes began. She had no idea why they did this when people like Butch and Terry tormented people within plain view of the school officials, but still the flyer that danced through her mind spoke clearly.

A quick interrogation of the leaflet and Cyn remembered the first item on a list; a list of people to go to when being bullied. "Go to a teacher or parent," it had read.

Cyn waited the agonizingly long hours until her parents arrived home from their jobs in more excruciating pain than she had hoped for. Albeit completely confident that her stalker wouldn't return until dusk, Cyn still jumped at every noise submitted from her humble abode. The footsteps of Humphrey as he ambled down the hall, the sound of (hopefully) a squirrel on the roof as it bounded between trees, the distant yells and squeals of joy from students on their recess break. These yells in particular struck Cyn. She felt an overwhelming sense of guilt for not going to school, or at least doing anything important, that day. The night before James had removed all traces of the voices within her mind, or so he had told her, and Cyn was in fine physical condition, other than being extremely tired. Cyn still underwent self-reproach for not attending school that day.

* * *

James sat in the front row of his abnormally silent class. The hush yelled louder in all the pupil's ears than that of one Neutron-Vortex quarrel. Everything for the past week had been out of the ordinary because Cyn was absent; James didn't answer questions in great depth for he had no reason to ignominies anyone, as a result Miss Fowl talked on for ages and even, at times, put the class on recess when they weren't entitled to it in view of the fact that she had simply run out of things to say regarding her lesson for the day. Liberty had changed as well for, since Cyn yelled at her, she had begun to sense an outcast feeling. Because Liberty had become so suddenly downhearted and James appeared as though he thought of himself to be useless, Sheen's moral dropped for his only friends (other than Carl) were in great pain and he could do nothing. Carl felt as though his life was ending because nobody talked to him anymore. Once in a while he'd get a grunt or a one-word answer from James or Sheen, but it wasn't like the golden olden days. Because the Fantastic Five had lost their drives then the mood swept through the remainder of the class without a snag. Also, we must not forget in this that Nicholas had also lost it when Cyn stopped arriving for he didn't get his daily dosage of the fiery blonde. Even though the two were split, Nicholas still felt that Cyn was the only girl in the school that matched, or came close to, his own social status.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Cyn," Sheen said at lunch the day after James had reversed the Psychosis Inducer.

"Word that," Liberty agreed.

"Totally," Carl said in a rusty voice, he'd no one to speak to in days.

James didn't answer. He was thinking about a passage from a book he'd read. It was an old Indian tale. His photographic memory breached into the back of his mind where the tale hid;

"I had heard the old Indian legend about the red fern. How a little Indian boy and girl were lost in a blizzard and were frozen to death. In the spring, when they were found, a beautiful red fern had grown up between their two bodies. The story went on to say that only an angel could plant the seeds of a red fern, and that they never died; where one grew, that spot was sacred."Could this absence of Cyn be love? James had told her himself only a week and change ago that he did not believe in such trifles, but now he was not so sure. James wondered why he missed his mortal enemy and also why he felt remorse for putting her in such a well-deserved, in his opinion, condition. James felt as though he was incomplete without Cyn to point out his flaws, as annoying as that was. Or to have her try to compete with his intellect only to be crushed in the end by his superiority.

Except one time. One time she had not shown him up and she had, in fact, possessed the superior intellect in that particular argument.

_"You're right; I don't know the probabilities of something like that. But, maybe if you just believed," Cyn let out a sigh._

James himself let out a sigh as even more remorse and pain seared at his already sweltering heart.

_Good Lord, what have I done?_

* * *

**A/N:** Now that that's over, do you feel like reviewing? This could be the first story I update... Then again, it could also be the last... if you... chose... not to review...

iloveslinky


	6. The Paper Airplane

**A/N: **Alright! It's a new personal record! Two chapters in a weekend! I'm on fire, baby! (Licks index finger and touches arm. Makes 'sss' noise). Ha ha, I know I'm weird!

Don't own it. If I did do you think I'd waste my time with FanFiction? Then it wouldn't be FanFiction; it would be an episode/movie.

* * *

Cyn raised her head up with the reflexes of a cat. She had her back to her bedroom door and held her knees towards her chin with her arms resting on top. The sound of a door slam downstairs roused the girl as she heard what she was waiting for.

Quick movement embraced Cyn as she stood from her position, flew out her door, and then down the stairs where she halted on the bottom landing.

"Mom!"

Sasha froze with the plastic, grocery bags swaying slightly in her hands. She wore the deer-in-the-headlights look as she gazed upon her daughter.

Cyn looked good for the condition she had been in. Her hair was up in its usual ponytail and swooping bang, her face was regaining color, although still very blanch. Cyn's clothes were freshly washed –she had to do something while her parents were at work and TV was just as boring as ever- and her room was cleaned albeit the holes in the walls and window.

"What do you want?" Mrs. Vortex asked after the initial shock had disintegrated. Her voice held a slightly frightened note with resilience thrown in.

"I'm sorry for the way I've been acting for the past week or so," Cyn began as she dug her toe into the carpet. It was only last night that she had heard and seen the footsteps on the roof and had been cured of the voices. "I realize that I might have come across as a little," Cyn grasped for the right word, "paranoid and crazy, but I assure you that the phase, if you can call it that, is completely over.

"I'm assuring you of this because I want you to know that I say the following in complete seriousness and sanity."

"Honey, what are you getting at? Are you sure you're okay?" Mrs. Vortex said with a slight shiver in her voice.

"Mom, I'm fine! Now, please listen to me!" Cyn slammed her fist down on the flat top of the post. Fear flashed through her mother's eyes when Cyn gazed into them.

"Why don't you talk to your father? He'll be home in half-an-hour or so," Mrs. Vortex inched towards the kitchen. She knew that parents shouldn't be afraid of their children, but not most parents have psychotic children such as her.

Cyn sighed deeply as she knew her mother wouldn't listen to a word she said. Cyn now regretted all the horrible things she had shouted through and out her door.

"Yeah, whatever, Mom, thanks for nothing," Cyn said before the pulled a one-eighty and stomped up the stairs sullenly.

_Figures. Why__ do I have the most inattentive and uncaring mother in the world?_ Cyn asked herself just before she reentered her room and closed the door silently.

Cyn paced to her bed and rolled on over the covers staring up at the ceiling.

Her cell phone rang from her nightstand and Cyn harvested it in her hand. One quick look at the caller ID and Cyn knew the unknown number. A few rings later and the call had gone to voicemail.

_Maybe I should call Liberty._ Cyn dialed the number and waited a few rings.

"Hello, Folfax residence, Liberty speaking." Cyn smiled. The familiar voice was comforting to her tired mind.

"Liberty, it's great to hear you! Listen, I need your help, major."

"Cyn? Is that you? Girl, what did Neutron do to you that made you act that way?" concern ribbed Liberty's voice.

"James didn't do anything to me; at least I don't think he did. Anyway, that's not what I called you for. I have a problem," Cyn mentioned once again.

"Don't even get me started on your problems, Vortex," Cyn gasped, Liberty had _never_ called her by her last name before. "If Neutron didn't do anything to you, then what was up with your behavior the other day?"

"Lib-"

"For so many years we were best friends and then, all of a sudden, you decide that we won't be. I come over to your house and try to help you and get greeted by a less than friendly hello."

"Lib-!"

"Ah! Don't talk to me if you refuse to explain what's up." Liberty slammed the phone down on the receiver.

Cyn heard a monotone and sighed as she furrowed her brow and closed her eyes. Shit, now what was she going to do?

The sound of propellers and laughter followed by a small explosion wafted into Cyn's holey window. Mrs. Neutron's shrill voice entered shortly thereafter.

"James Isaac Neutron!" Cyn smiled, she knew the speech well. She sat up from her bed and walked over to her window. Outside on his lawn stood James, Carl, and Sheen looking guilty as ever with black soot on their faces and a giant charred spot on the ground.

"I want you to clean up this mess! Your father is going to be so angry at you when he gets home and learns that you ruined his award winning lawn!" Mrs. Neutron lifted the index and middle fingers on both hands to her temples and closed her eyes. "Carl and Sheen, you may go home now. I'll call your parents shortly and tell them about what you've been up to."

The two boys' groans emanated as Cyn let a smile appear on her lips for the first time in days. Carl and Sheen moped to their respective houses as Cyn pulled a piece of paper from the copy machines tray. A quick note was scrawled in loopy handwriting and Cyn folded the paper into an airplane.

Mrs. Neutron entered the house silently as James stood hunched in the yard.

"Goddard!" James called in the direction of his bedroom window.

"No using Goddard!" shouted Mrs. Neutron from within her abode. James' shoulders dragged even lower towards the ground as he kicked a stray rock. It tumbled across the yard as Cyn took aim with the paper airplane's nose pointing towards James' whippy-dip hair. Cyn pulled her forearm back slowly with her elbow rested on the ledge of her window. Grateful that there wasn't a breeze, Cyn gracefully glided her arm along with the airplane and let it go slowly.

It sailed lightly over the Neutron yard where it got caught in a torrent of wind. It circled around a bit over James' head and then fell just in front of his eyes.

Cyn released a gasping breath that she didn't know she was holding as James picked up the plane.

_James. I need your help. Something terribly wrong is going on and I think you're the only one who would believe me now. Please, help me!_

_Cyn _

_Oh, no!_ James thought. _What could be wrong?! _He let the rake he had been using fall to the ground next to his feet as he glanced up at Cyn's bedroom window. The blonde's green's pierced through his body as he felt her fear rise within him.

"I'll help you! I promise!" James yelled just before his mother walked out the door to the house.

"James Isaac Neutron…!"

* * *

**A/N:** Don't forget about the reviews contest! Merry Christmas! Happy Festivus! Happy Kwanza! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Holidays, no matter what your religion!

iloveslinky


	7. The Saving Grace

**A/N:** PIE IS BLUEBERRIES!!!!!!! (Gets pummeled by bricks) Ok, I might have deserved that. Onward, ho. Lol, just kidding!

Don't forget about the "Most Reviews" contest! (Cheesy TV salesman) Vote for your favorite story HERE! NOW! (someone slaps me) Ow.

I don't own James. If I did then……….. I wouldn't be here. (I know, so intelligent.)

* * *

Night had fallen by the time Cyn reached her window. The night air caressed her skin as she lifted her legs, one at a time, over the windowsill.

James had told her to meet him in his lab as soon as night fell. It hadn't been five minutes past dusk when Cyn began her decent from the ledge outside her window to the ground. Grateful that she had taken those Tae Kwon Do classes where learning a double-axle mid-air Betsy flip had been required learning for advancement into the next belt.

Landing softly on her family's front lawn, Cyn took a quick glance around her. Every once in a while her parents would sit outside in the Vortex front porch and talk for hours after dark. Cyn didn't know why, but the sounds of her parent's voices talking peacefully outside her window graced her to sleep like the softest of lullabies.

Once sure that the coast was clear, Cyn stood on her feet with a hunch in her back and a crook in her knees. She ran lightly on the balls of her feet to the Neutron lab. A light, similar to that of a porch light, hung above the door illuminating the ground below it in a five foot radius. In this light Cyn could see that a note was stuck to the door.

_Cindy, the door is open. You can come in and then I'll get you to the lab from there._

_James_

Cyn pushed the red-orange door in front of her and it opened gracefully, albeit the slight creak at the end.

The inner room in the clubhouse was in semi-darkness. A night-light, surely for when Carl came over after dark, hung on the wall to Cyn's right. Dark enough not to hurt your eyes, but light enough to see where your feet were stepping. Cyn began to scan the room with feminine eyes, noting the dust and grime. A familiar voice scared the living daylights out of Cyn.

"Hey, Cyn," resonated James' voice from nowhere. Cyn's heart slowed in her chest as she noted a speaker on her left. A small computer and keyboard hung from the wall. "Just press the blue button and you'll be swept off your feet by my lab."

Cyn inched over to the keyboard and found the button indicated. A blue button, long and skinny at the bottom of the keyboard; very much like the spacebar found on a computer not made by a child. Cyn reached her right, index finger and pressed the button. From beneath her the floor gave out into a trap door. Figures, she should have known that James would try to put her in a room and lock her away forever. However, her theory was disproved after she fell screaming through a yellow tube and landed on the hard cement floor of James' lab.

"You should have told me that you meant that literally. Why couldn't I have taken the vacuum tube that I took last time I came here?" Cyn said as she stood and rubbed her sore behind.

"It, uh, has a few bugs," said James as he came into Cyn's view from a door on her right. He led her to the main lab where his blue computer chair was with yet another chair seated next to it. James sat in his lab chair and Cyn took the seat left. "You said something was wrong. What?"

Cyn knew that James had a terrible habit for getting straight to the point without dilly-dallying around. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been absent for the past week and a half."

James nodded. "I did notice."

"Good, well," Cyn's throat began to squeeze itself shut as she tried to evolve the perfect way of saying what she came for. "Jeez, I'm gonna sound like a lunatic, but I've been hearing…. things."

"What kind of things?" James said trying to mask his guilt.

Cyn gasped in a deep plunge of air. "Voices."

James kept his face unpredictable while that little voice inside his head kicked himself. "Go on."

"A few days ago they just stopped. No voice but my own was heard inside my head."

"Uh, huh."

"Well, the voices were finally gone, and I was laying on my bed listening to silence, something that was deprived from me for a bit. Well, I heard a noise."

James furrowed his brow. "Noise?"

"Yeah, like when a squirrel is on your roof."

"Oh, continue."

"I heard a noise above my head on my roof. I knew I'd be afraid of whatever it is until I disproved my fears. You know, the unseen villain like the shark in 'Jaws.' I climbed up on my roof and I start looking around. Night had already fallen by this time and vision was limited. But, I am sure that I saw one thing. There was a footprint right above where I had been lying. A footprint in some leaves that had caught in the rain gutter and such. James, I think I'm being watched," Cyn ended with her green eyes wide in fear. The very thought of Cyn coming to James for help was outrageous. It must have scared Cyn enough to admit she can't do everything. And James knew that Cyn was no longer under the beam of the Psychosis Inducer so this was real. He knew that Cyn had a sixth sense about this stuff.

"Who would do such a thing?"

"I don't know, but it's freaking me out! I mean, I can't sleep anymore because I'm worried that he, or she-gross-, might hurt me," Cyn clutched her hands in a ball. She pressed them against her lips for it to appear as she was warming her hands by breathing on them.

"Why didn't you go to your parents instead of me?" wondered James aloud.

"I did. My mother is afraid of me because I've kind of fallen off my rocker. Or, I had fallen off my rocker and now I'm back in position. My mother thinks I'm crazy. She won't talk to me civilly like she used to. She won't let me out of the house; like she's afraid the neighbors will see me and discard our family as a mental institution." Cyn took and released a breath. "I talked to Liberty too. She's mad at me because, when I was hearing voices, I kind of snapped at her."

James nodded. "She told me. That would kind of scare me a bit too. But Libbs is a good friend; she should have everything explained to her once we get this stalker thing taken care of."

"Definitely. I can't handle losing my best friend on top of all this other crap."

"Yeah. But back to business. You said you needed my help. What do you want me to do?" James asked with utmost sincerity in his tone.

"I want you to scope out my house. Get Goddard or some sort of security on my house so we can find out what's going on,"' Cyn paused. "That is, if you _want_ to help me." Cyn twiddled her toes as she looked down at them.

"Of course, of course. Anything, I feel partially responsible for what's going on."

Cyn furrowed her brow. "What do you mean?"

James' breath caught in his throat. The absence of explanation shocked Cyn.

"You did this!" James froze. "You've been the one stalking me!"

"Cyn, no! I swear I would never do that to you!" He said as he placed his right hand on an imaginary Bible and lifted the left high into the air, as though he was taking an oath. "I feel guilty because of a few things. I feel guilty about what you said the last time you were here. I should have known then that you were right. I guess I feel guilty because I've just been sitting back and watching you go through this, I also feel guilty because I wasn't able to help you until now."

Cyn sighed. "I don't know what to say. But you'll help me?"

"Absolutely. You should know that a Neutron never goes against his friends. Bravery runs in our blood," James finished.

"I guess that's good. Unless it goes horribly wrong. Like, 'brave to the point of idiocy'," Cyn said with a small smile.

"There's a catch to everything," James said as he started typing commands into his computer. The screen on the wall produced the commands James was typing.

He finished his escapade just before Vox's voice rang out. "Sensors engaged. Video's scanning Vortex residence. Security engaged."

"Thank you, Vox," James called to the Heavens.

"I'm set now?" Cyn asked.

"Yeah, you can rest assured tonight."

"Thanks." Cyn stood from her chair and positioned herself underneath the suction tube she was so acquainted with.

_You're my saving grace, _enclouded her mind.

"And Cyn, come over tomorrow around four. I'll have the information you need by then."

"I'll see you."

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed! Don't forget to leave me a splecial review just from you!

iloveslinky (Macho, Macho (wo)man)


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